EIB approves €150 million for LNG project in Cyprus - CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY (CNA)

CNA - Cyprus/NICOSIA 11/06/2020 20:31

European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Board of Directors has approved the amount of €150 million to fund the construction of a project which will allow the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Cyprus, Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA) announced on Thursday.

In a press release DEFA says that the project will be implemented by Natural Gas Infrastructure Company of Cyprus (ETYFA).

In particular, the loan is of a duration of 20 years with a favourably low rate and will cover capital construction expenditure, the press release adds.

Hoegh LNG wants to install Cyprus FSRU - FINANCIAL MIRROR

24th April 2020
Charlie Charalambous

Norway’s Hoegh LNG on Friday confirmed that it has officially applied to Nicosia for a liquefied natural gas infrastructure ownership, operations, and development license in Cyprus.

In a statement, Hoegh LNG said it sent letters to President Nicos Anastasiades, and the Ministers of Energy and Finance, in which the “advantages and benefits of its proposal for the installation of an FSRU in Cyprus, and more specifically at Vasiliko, were presented”.

“The purpose of the letters was for the President and the two Ministers to be informed about Hoegh LNG’s proposal, the application for licensing which was officially submitted to Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (CERA), being the competent authority,” said the statement.

Deal to develop LNG infrastructure and supply in Cyprus reached - CYPRUS MAIL

December 3, 20196Jonathan Shkurko

An agreement to sign a contract on developing the necessary infrastructure and the supply of liquified natural gas (LNG) in Cyprus has been finalised.

The goal is to be able to use LNG in the market for electricity purposes by the end of 2021.

The deal follows lengthy negotiations between the Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (Etyfa), the Natural Gas Public Company (Defa) and the joint venture JV China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co Ltd and Metron SA, which will carry out the project.

The government gave the go-ahead to finalise the deal on November 22 during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in which President Anastasiades made it clear that Defa must go ahead with the procedures for the provision of natural gas in Cyprus.

The final process of examining and signing the complex agreement will take place this week.

Cyprus aims to sign contract on natural gas infrastructure and supply in 2019 - IN-CYPRUS / CNA

November 27, 2019 at 7:46am
Edited by Bouli Hadjioannou

The government’s aim is to finalise and sign a contract on developing the necessary infrastructure and the supply of natural gas in the Cypriot market within 2019 Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has said.

Lakkotrypis was speaking during an event held to present the annual report for 2018 of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus.

He said the aim is to complete the development project for the necessary infrastructure and the natural gas provision process in the Cypriot market for the electricity production purposes by the end of 2021.

According to Lakkotrypis, the Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (ETYFA) is now in consultations with the first tenderer who is first in line, aiming to finalise the contract and sign it within 2019. Referring to the project he added that it is expected to be completed within 24 months. EAC has a 30% shareholding in ETYFA.

DEFA issues tender for construction of LNG import terminal - HYDROCARBON ENGINEERING

09 October 2018

The state natural gas company of Cyprus, DEFA, has issued a tender for the development of a facility for the import, storage and regasification of LNG at Vasilikos Bay near Lemesos.

The tender was made on behalf of the Natural Gas Infrastructure Co. Ltd (ETYFA).

Following the completion of a feasibility study in 2016, the government of Cyprus decided to proceed with the development.

The government requires the completion of the new LNG import terminal by 30 November 2020.

The LNG Terminal will include a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a jetty for mooring the FSRU, a jetty borne gas pipeline and related infrastructure. The LNG terminal has secured a funding of 40% of the CAPEX, up to €101 million, as a grant from the EU under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) financial instruments.

Defa publishes tender documents for LNG terminal - CYPRUS MAIL

OCTOBER 5, 2018

Cyprus’ natural gas public company (DEFA) on Friday published the tender documents for the design, construction, and operation of an LNG import terminal that will be located at Vassilikos.

“This is an important milestone for DEFA, and for the people of Cyprus, who will soon benefit from the cost savings and environmental benefits from the use of natural gas. We expect to issue a request for expressions of interest for the supply of LNG in the coming weeks and a full tender early in 2019,” DEFA chairman Symeon Kassianides said.

The tender documents can be obtained from the e-procurement portal of the Republic of Cyprus.

The €300m LNG Terminal will include a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a jetty for mooring the FSRU, a jetty-borne gas pipeline and related infrastructure.

The LNG Terminal will be completed in 2020 and 40 per cent of its cost, or €101m, will be funded by the EU.

Cabinet looking for gas licensees for Block 7 (Updated) - CYPRUS MAIL

October 3, 2018 

George Psyllides

The energy minister announced on Monday Cyprus will be seeking bidders for a €300m project to facilitate natural gas imports and will also invite energy companies to express interest in another offshore field inside the island’s exclusive economic zone.

Natural Gas: Cyprus Heading towards a New Energy Era - CYPRUS MAIL

JUNE 27, 2018

Two European co-funded projects Cynergy and Cyprus Gas2EU, organised a Discussion Forum with the title “Natural Gas: Cyprus Heading towards a New Energy Era” at the Filoxenia Conference Centre in Nicosia. The event was under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, and attracted more than 160 delegates from the transport and energy sectors, public bodies, and international organisations. The first official presentation of the CYnergy video was also held during the event.

In his welcome speech, Mr. Lakkotrypis emphasized on the importance of CYnergy, as being an extremely important project for Cyprus, since it sets the foundations for importing LNG and thus contributes to the island’s energy security and the roll-out of gas market. He also added that CyprusGas2EU is a project of particular national importance, as it will help Cyprus to finally wean itself off conventional fossil fuels for electricity production, which currently account for approximately 90 per cent.

EMGC '18: Cyprus to import gas via FSRU to meet EU GHG targets - WORLD OIL / HYDROCARBON PROCESSING

March/22/2018
Adrienne Blume

NICOSIA -- Day 2 of Gulf Publishing Company's Eastern Mediterranean Gas Conference (EMGC 2018) in Cyprus kicked off with a keynote presentation by Dr. Symeon Kassianides, chairman of The Natural Gas Public Co. (DEFA) of Cyprus. Dr. Kassianides spoke about the proposal to establish a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to import gas to Cyprus for use in power generation.

The target for first gas is 2020. In light of this tight deadline, which is motivated by Cyprus' need to meet EU greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limits, DEFA is working with Cyprus' energy ministry and EU organizations to move quickly on the project.

Dr. Symeon Kassianides, chairman of The Natural Gas Public Co. (DEFA) of Cyprus.

CyprusGas2EU Project scope. The FSRU project—known as CyprusGas2EU—stems from the European Commission's €7.5-million CEF Syngery (CYnergy) Project, which is concerned with the establishment of an integrated storage, transmission and distribution system for natural gas in Cyprus in the forms of LNG and CNG. CYnergy, which has been 60% funded, aligns with the CyprusGas2EU Project's supply target date of 2020.

The CyprusGas2EU Project has successfully secured environmental licenses and intergovernmental licenses (e.g. Greece). Consultations with all Cypriot operating financial institutions have been held, and a grant of €101 million has been secured to fund 40% of the CyprusGas2EU project.

The need to import gas has now become urgent - CYPRUS MAIL

FEBRUARY 11, 2018 Charles Ellinas

THE European Commission (EC) agreed to partially fund the cost of infrastructure to enable Cyprus to import LNG. This was one of the 17 projects selected under the framework of the European support programme for trans-European infrastructure Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) on 25 January.

The specific project is known as CyprusGas2EU and its purpose, according to the EU list of projects, is to ‘remove internal bottlenecks in Cyprus to end isolation and to allow for the transmission of gas from the Eastern Mediterranean region.’

In fact, as far as Cyprus is concerned, the main purpose of the project, at least initially, is to enable the import of LNG for power generation. The island must switch its electricity generation from burning heavy fuel oil (HFO) to natural gas by 2020 if it is to avoid hefty fines by the EC.

If at a later stage, sufficient gas discoveries are made and if it is commercially feasible to build a greenfield LNG liquefaction plant at Vasilikos, the LNG import facilities could be modified to facilitate export of LNG.

The EC appears to understand and support this position.

First step toward EU funding to aid gas imports - CYPRUS MAIL

January 17 2018

Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis: funding 'a decisive step towards the import of LNG for power generation'

Cyprus has been approved for preliminary EU funding of €101m to construct infrastructure for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power generation, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said on Wednesday.

The approval is a response to Cyprus’ application seeking assistance in importing LNG to decrease the island’s reliance on imported oil for producing electricity ahead of the extraction of its own gas.

The approved amount, Lakkotrypis said, is around 40 per cent of the estimated cost.

The proposal, he said, was jointly submitted to key EU funding instrument Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), by the energy and transport ministries.

The amount is pending the approval of the other member states.

The preliminary approval of the €101m, Lakkotrypis said, “is a decisive step towards the import of LNG for power generation”.